Socket wrench



J. J. M GUCKIN Oct. 20, 1925- SOGKET WRENCH Filed March 25, 1924 Ala 4n HIM/mu Patented Oct. 20, 1925. I

UNITED STATES A 1,558,267. PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. MGGUCKIN, O'F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LOUIS SCHWAB, DO-

ING BUSINESS AS STEVENS 8c COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

socxn'r wanncn'.

Application filed Itarch 25, 1924. Serial No. 701,648.

To all whom it may concern:

Be-it known that I. JOHN J. McGUcKTN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Socket Wrenches, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to socket wrenches and has for its principal object the provision of simple and eflicient means for detachably retaining a nut inthe socket of the wrench, the retaining means being preferably detachable so that they may be applied to either of a series of wrenches, as desired.

-In the drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section of a wrench embodying my improvements; Fig. 2 is an elevation taken as looking to the left on F 1g. 1; Fig. 3 is a bottom view; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1 looking down; Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 looking down; Fig. 6 is an elevation, partly in section, of a modification; and Fig. 7 is a view of the same taken as looking to the left on Fig. 6.

In all the figures similar parts are designated by similar reference numerals.

The wrench may be of a conventional type provided with a suitable handle 1, carrying a shank 2, which has on its end a suitable socket element 3 adapted to receive a nut.

A detent element 6 is preferably formed of resilient sheet metal, and is provided with two wings 77 which are adapted to be sprung around the shank 2, so as to hold the detent elements 6 in position thereupon, the form of the wings being such that the lower end of the detent is normally pressed in toward the socket of the wrench. This lower end is provided with a terminal portion 8 which passes through a small hole in the side of the socket element 3, and projects slightly into the nut receiving socket. The inner end of this terminal is preferably bevelled as at 9, so that it will spring out when it engages the side of a nut when it is received into the socket. The

other end 10 of the detent element is bent out somewhat from the shank, with the result that the detent element may be rocked on the shank, and thereby swing the end 8 outward from the socket. This rocking of the detent is permitted by the elasticity of are su the Wings 7-7, which will spring slightly apart as the detent element is rocked and the normal channel between the wings is brought at a slight angle to the shank 2. But the rocking will not proceed sufiiciently far to spring the wings off of the shank and thereby separate the detent from the shank.

And when the end 10 is released from pressure, the detent will re-assume its normal position with its terminal 9 projecting within the socket.

However, the detent quite oil of the shank 2, and detached entirely from the wrench; and it may then be placed upon another similar wrench, adapted to receive a nut of a different size, so ion as the shanks of the two wrenches stantially of the same diameter and the second wrench is also provided with a lateral opening into its socket to accommodate the terminal 9 of the detent 6. Thus a single detent element may be transferred from one to another of and used with any of a set of similar wrenches; thereby avoiding the expense of duplicating it with each wrench, and also the inconvenience which might be caused in housing such a set of wrenches by the presence of such an attachment on the shank of each of the set.

In practice the wrench is applied to a nut by pushing the nut into the socket, point 9 springing out slightly, but still bearing against the side of the nut with sufiicient force to prevent the nut from dropping out of its own weight, and not hard enough to interfere with the wrench being withdrawn from the nut when the nuthas been screwed home on the shank. Conversely, if the wrench is applied to a nut already in position on a shank, the detent will hold the nut in place in the socket after it has been backed off from its shank, so that it will not pull out of the wrench and be dropped or It will be understood that the particular form of embodiment of my improvements is to be considered as illustrative andnot as exclusive. For itis obvious that details of construction may be varied, as by the use of mechanical equivalents without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

'In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown a modification in which two nut retaining ends 11, 11, of the detent are turned in below the 6 may be sprung lot I socket so as to press against the edges of the nut, or to pass below it if the nut is sufficiently thin. By pressing the free end 10 of the attachment in towardthe shank, the attachment may be rocked so as to swing the detent ends to one side away from the nut and. to thereby release it. The same movement ma be employed in placing the wrench over t e nut. This form of the attachment may also be sprung oil of and onto the tool shank. And it has the advanta e of not requiring the drilling of a ho le through the side of the wrench socket.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. The combination, with a socket wrench,

of a lateral detent element provided with' a nutgen aging rtion .and with resilient, readil rocka 10 .on the shank to optionally move etachab e, shank gripping means .the nut engaging portion into or out of the socket.

2. The combination, with a socket wrench, of a lateral detent element provided with a nut engaging portion, resilient, readily detachable, shank gripping means and also provided with a rocking member, whereby the detent element may be rocked as a whole upon the shank to move its nut engaging portion into or out of the socket.

3. The combination, with a socket wrench, of a lateral detent element embodying a shank having a deflected, bevelled nut-engaging end; into ral, resilient wings constituting wrench-s ank engaging means normally holding the nut en aging encl'in operative position, and a free end deflected from the wrench-shank and afiording means for withdrawing said nut engaging end from operative position.

JOHN J. MoGUCKIN. 

